One dead after Uxbridge police pursuit ends in head-on crash

The driver of an allegedly stolen Ford Explorer being pursued by police was killed when his vehicle collided head-on with a Toyota pickup truck in Uxbridge Friday, the Worcester County District Attorney's Office said.

The driver of the truck, Anthony Southwick, 30, of Uxbridge, was taken to the University of Massachusetts-Memorial Hospital in Worcester with serious injuries.

The crash happened along the 100 block of South Main Street in Uxbridge late Friday afternoon.

"There were no brakes or screeching of tires. It was just a boom, it was loud," said Sarah Smith, who lives across the street.

According to Northbridge police, a caller reported an erratic driver on Route 122.

Police attempted to pull over the Ford Explorer, which they said had been stolen in Providence. Witnesses said it was traveling at a high rate of speed.

Northbridge Police backed off the pursuit and Uxbridge Police picked it up after the SUV crossed the town line, the district attorney said.

Uxbridge Police allowed the vehicle to pull away shortly before the Explorer crossed into the northbound lane and collided with the truck head-on.

"All of the sudden it was just this loud crash. My heart dropped, I jumped," said Smith.

First responders had to extricate Southwick from the wreckage of his truck.

"I just keep praying that whoever was in there is OK, because they didn’t ask for whatever happened to them," Smith said.

The deceased driver of the allegedly stolen SUV was not carrying identification, police said.